


Alien vs Irken

by spellboundscythe



Category: Alien Series, Invader Zim
Genre: Enemies to Friends to Lovers, F/F, F/M, IN SPACE!, M/M, Mystery, Psychological Horror, Space Opera, Useless Lesbians, be gay do crimes
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-09
Updated: 2020-02-19
Packaged: 2020-02-28 19:44:53
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 8,387
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18762955
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/spellboundscythe/pseuds/spellboundscythe
Summary: 5000 years after ZIM, and the Irken Empire is running out of worlds to conquer and cool things to blow up.A portal on a desolate world called Portia is built to take the Irkens to places other Irkens have never gone before: other universes. But one day, when the portal's construction is almost complete, the entire planet suddenly goes dark.*This is a re-write of my original work of Alien vs Irken. I've come along way since three years ago when I started and wanted to revisit the work in hopes of making it more of what I wanted it to be.





	1. Transmission

Jek’s heels clicked as she crossed the bridge onto the command center of the Massive, the largest and most intimidating ship in the Irken Armada. Her footsteps made a sharp, hollow sound despite the hundreds of other ship-bound Irkens reporting for duty around her. The ship was the home of thousands of Irkens, bound to their personal responsibility to serve their great Empire: drones, palace guards, soldiers, navigators like herself -- but mostly drones.

The Massive was Vortian built, Irken designed. But that wasn’t what made it most special: it was the fact that it was operated by the leaders of their people, the Tallest. Jek had been handpicked alongside nearly twenty other navigators to operate the warship, and fight if necessary. Most of the time, it was.

Navigating the ship had been Jek's job for almost half of her young life – plenty of time for her to experience multiple planetary takeovers, organic sweeps, and a myriad of space battles against other alien races. As resilient and stubborn as these other races have been against Irken military technology, science, and tactics, none have ever been capable of even denting the Irken Armada. Their numbers alone were often enough to destroy any population, but Jek was convinced that Irken intelligence, prowess, and cunning was the genuine reason for their endless success in galactic conquest.

Her job was important, and she took great pride in it. Having the trust of her leaders was unmatched by any other emotion, any other drive or aspirations. Jek’s service was her life. It came before anything else.

And yet, today, she was late.

_I’m going to kill Dirk._

Jek gave herself one last look over, making sure her uniform was wrinkle-free, tidy, and that her antennae were properly perked. 

“Good day,” she said to the two palace guards standing before the great, mechanical door that separated herself from her life’s work. She flashed her credentials to the guards, and they stood aside to let her pass.

Jek was greeted with the enormity of the holoscreen being operated by the Tallest, who were speaking with an off-world Invader about their unsurprising lack of success in global domination.

"And the galactic navigator won't work!" the Invader said, with half a right antenna and deep green scratches freckling his face. "I keep getting this strange error. It's like, like a blue screen with a bunch of white letters on it."

Tallest Tau rested his gloved hand on his chin, appearing to be lost in thought. His bright, cherry-colored eyes seemed glazed over, his jaw tight, his brow furrowed. 

He was the level-headed Tallest, giving the best advice to solve hiccups in certain operations, both major and minor. His counterpart, Tallest Zeta, tended to be more hot-headed, but when it came down to it, she was a brilliant battle-strategist. 

Based on Tau’s expression, he was about to say something ingenious.

“Have you tried turning it off and on again?”

The Invader on-screen gave a flabbergasted expression, shoulders slumping. He opened his mouth to speak again when a loud, resonating beeping sound echoed across the command center.

"Oh, sorry Invader Goochee, we’re getting another call. Report back to us on how that works out for you, okaaaay?" 

Goochee shook his head violently, his mouth forming words they never got to hear.

The screen flickered the image of another Invader, and Tallest Tau promptly began advising them on a planetary conquest tactic that had been used by the Irkens for thousands of years called "starving the populace until they give up or die".

Jek rounded the room, quite literally. The command center was one huge ring, comprising of an upper floor, and a lower floor. Jek worked on the upper floor with the other navigators of a similar class: weaponry and data support. The lower floor was reserved for communications and databasing.

She seated herself, swiveling in her chair to face her personal command screen. The blue backlight reflected off of her round, ruby eyes, changing them to a ghostly shade of milky pink; the color of Irken blood.

She adjusted her headset to the correct frequency to monitor any incoming traffic from the other navigators of the Irken ships in the Armada, Invaders, and any natural radio waves from the surrounding planets, moons, and other orbital bodies, as well as any foreign ships entering or exiting the system. Most of the time the traffic was extremely boring, but sometimes on rare occasions something interesting would happen.

Jek sighed against the mask that covered her face from the eyes down, typical of the navigator’s uniform. Hers was a fiery red.

“Jek,” a voice whispered beside her. “You’re late.”

Jek slapped her hands on her desk and pivoted in her seat toward the voice. The voice of Dirk. 

“And it’s _your_ fault.”

“How so?” he chuckled softly, his veiled smile showing only from the supple creases around his emerald green eyes. Under his desk he crossed his legs. “You seemed to rather enjoy my company.”

Jek leaned toward him, hissing quietly over his desk next to her, “You left before I could _rather enjoy your company_.”

Dirk seemed amused by her anger. “I have other, pressing duties to perform,” he explained, rather unapologetically. “You have come to understand this.”

He wasn’t wrong, but he wasn’t right. She knew of the “on-call” nature of his role on the ship. Dirk had volunteered to assist the bridge whenever they were in need, either to overcome a technical issue or to be an extra hand. 

Now if only she could get one. 

Jek growled internally, absolutely frustrated.

She rolled the short foot back to her desk, determined to focus on her duties for the day and to say not a single other word to him.

There were plenty of other cute navigators… but the illegality of such relationships made such options difficult to traverse.

All Irkens were sterile, completely incapable of reproduction. This ancient implication was supposed to bring personal relationships Irkens had with each other to a screeching halt, so they would be more task-focused. Another reason was to genetically control the Irken population, combining genetic data to create Irkens eugenically suited for the jobs they would carry out in their lives. 

She planned to do just that.

A persistent blinking from the corner of her eye cut her train of thought. Jek saw on the top right corner of her screen that The Massive was drifting aimlessly around a foreign moon with previously no name. Now it was simply known as Moon Number 69-420-69, orbiting a planet that had recently been dominated and decimated by an Invader. The planet was formerly named Click Click Cluck by the now deceased native species of moth-like inhabitants that had worshiped their nearest star, Click Cluck Click. Now it had plans to become yet another planet for snack manufacturing. 

Jek made a note of it in her log. She yawned. She wished it was lunchtime. 

The giant holoscreen began beeping again.

“Incoming transmission from LV-468,” a lower-level navigator called out.

“Portia,” Zeta gasped.

The Tallest unseated herself, her long, flowing robes billowing out from her as she stood up fast and eager. Tau remained relaxed, but definitely curious.

Portia was Zeta’s personal project: a planet whose surface was used to mount an extra-universal portal for far-reaching interstellar travel. The portal was capable of launching ships distances a hundred times as much as any military-level hyperdrive, into new, uncharted space.

It was any military strategist’s dream. 

“Invader Blue reporting in,” the invader said on-screen. She was unlike any invader Jek had seen before: lithe, with thin, expressive, deep-blue eyes. Her cheeks were dappled with minor, sun-induced blemishes. But she must have called before, despite it being the first time she was seeing her. Jek must have not been paying attention. “I have news of your Portal, my Tallest.”

Tallest Zeta could hardly contain her excitement. She opened up a bag of Irken Tater Crisps as if it were a nervous reaction rather than one driven by hunger. “Tell me of its progress.”

“It’s coming along excellently, my Tallest. The portal should be completed and fully operational by this week’s end.”

“Wonderful news!” Zeta cheered. 

“Ah, yes, well….” the invader trailed off, her gaze veering to the right of the screen. 

That’s when Jek noticed just how exhausted she looked. Bags under her eyes, her expression strained and stressed. She was obviously overworked. Worried.

Jek eye caught Dirk’s movement to her left. He appeared to be focusing all of his interest on this call. He almost looked captivated. Hypnotized.

“What is it, Blue?” Zeta asked. “You seem reluctant to celebrate the good news.”

Blue gave a short nod. "You're correct, my Tallest. It appears that some of our construction crew, engineers, scientists… many have gone missing, as if overnight.”

Zeta raised a brow. “Overnight?” she scowled. “What do you mean, overnight? Only half of that planet is habitable, and that’s on a good day.”

“That’s precisely what makes this occurrence so sensitive.”

“Tell me the nature of their disappearances,” Tallest Tau inquired, hovering to his feet. Where Tallest Zeta was angry, he was calm. Collected.

Invader Blue obliged. “It was between shift changes. There didn’t appear to be anything abnormal about their behavior prior to the rotation.”

“Are there no logs that can be evaluated? What time they appeared on-shift, what time they left, what they ate, who they were with?” Tau pressed.

The invader’s gaze fell. “I don’t have that kind of information.”

Tallest Zeta spoke again. “How many are lost?”

“Out of one-hundred four workers, sixty-three remain.”

“When is the next shift change?” Tau asked.

“In about four hours.”

Tau turned his back on the holoscreen. He pinched his chin as he did when he was lost in thought. Something was going on behind his eyes. Cogs were turning in his mind, and more than usual.

“In the meantime, we will send another crew to replace the ones we lost,” Tallest Zeta decided. “We will send a recovery crew of forty -- “

“No, we won’t,” Tau interjected, glaring over his shoulder at Zeta. “How could you possibly believe that is a good idea?”

Zeta defended her stance with an icy stare of her own. “The portal’s construction is critical.”

“To you,” Tau countered. “The portal’s construction is critical for further conquest, of course, but there is no strategic reason why it must be completed in haste without knowing how or why those drones disappeared.”

She shrugged. “They’re drones. We have plenty of them.”

“And can spare none,” he argued. “What’s forty drones? Then sixty to replace them? Then a hundred? An entire crew, wasted?” He floated closer to her, the anti-gravity of his PAK lending him support. “Irkens -- our people -- gone.”

The entire command center was quiet, hanging in the silence that echoed the intensity of his words. Jek found herself with her mouth hanging open, on the edge of her seat. 

Zeta threw her hands at her sides, furious, her cheeks a fiery pink beneath the paleness of her jade skin. “Your hesitation is prompted by jealousy, not concern,” she said, pointing an accusing finger at him. “The moment I have a project of my own, a project that will skyrocket the prosperity and wealth of our people, you object to the progression of it.”

“What if the portal is compromised at the expense of your impatience?” he reasoned. “What will you do then?”

Never before had the Tallest quarreled like this. Their differences always met swift resolution, especially when intervened by their advisors, who now stood back and watched, uncertainty wrinkling their expressions and crippling their potential for action.

“I will do anything to secure the future of our Empire. Any -- “

_Bwip._

The holoscreen went black.

Tallest Zeta twirled around to face the nearest navigator. “Get Invader Blue back online. Now!”

“My Tallest,” the navigator said, shaking her head, “I-I can’t establish a connection. It seems all communications on their end are offline.”

Jek had to see it for herself. She remoted into Portia’s server, and the other woman was right. It was as if there was nothing there at all. Or ever was. 

There was a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach. Something was bad. Really bad.

She looked to Dirk for comfort, but found none. He was staring intently forward, eyes wide.

Jek could have sworn he was smiling.

“I need volunteers,” Tau said, breaking through Jek’s racing thoughts. “Ten volunteers to travel to Portia, to pilot and operate a transport ship, as well as supporting Spittle Runners to accompany the ship.”

The navigators glanced around the room at each other. There were whispers, some louder than others, as they decided amongst themselves what to do.

Jek would rather stay here on the Massive. She was a good pilot, but she wasn’t suited to be part of a search and rescue team. She imagined that Portia would have lesser accommodations than what she was used to -- worse food, worse couches, worse bedding, little to no entertainment…. 

There was hardly a reason to go. 

She didn’t like playing the hero.

Yet, a hand fell onto her wrist, pulling her up to her feet.

“Dirk!” she hissed quietly, shaking her head. “I can’t, I don’t want to -- “

“We will volunteer,” Dirk called out, raising their arms in unison. 

When Jek looked down to the bottom level, she saw more navigators standing up. Some already were, ready and waiting.

“That makes ten, then,” Tau said, turning to Zeta. She was still seething. “I will gather a few military and guard personnel, then take my leave.”

“Do what you want.” Her words cut like a knife, sounding more like a curse than consent. 

There was nothing more she had to say. Tallest Tau turned to leave, his crimson robes following him as he gestured the volunteers forward to follow him.

As Dirk held her hand, as they approached the lower level, then the bridge, the door, and out of the command center, Jek felt helpless in a way she never had before. She considered breaking his hold, running away and backing out while she could, but something crippled her. Something kept her silent, kept her walking further and further toward the ship’s hull.


	2. Destination: Portia

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tallest Tau selects someone to pilot the transport ship.

“Who thinks they can pilot the ship?”

Tallest Tau stood at the heart of the control room, behind the back of the captain’s chair. He was flanked by two palace guards, one of whom Jek didn’t recognize. The other one was Tau’s most trusted and beloved palace guard, Nexus, known for her expertise in video games. Her serious gaze peeked out over her mauve-colored mask, covering the frown that lurked underneath. 

Jek averted her eyes from them and her Tallest, uninterested in his request. Instead, she found herself admiring the ship’s luxurious interior. The control room looked like a sunset in every shade of red, from the sleek, metallic walls to the smallest stitching details of the furniture. The only exception to this was the chrome floors, so clean, Jek could see her reflection in it.

“Anyone?”

It was a shame that this was such a beautiful vessel. 

“I will fly the ship, my Tallest,” Dirk announced, stepping forward with a shallow bow. 

Tallest Tau exchanged looks with Nexus before acknowledging Dirk. He raised a brow in genuine confusion. “Who are you again?”

Dirk’s jaw fell, and Jek took it all in with petty delight. He struggled to find his words for a moment, and said, “Navigator Dirk, sir. I specialize in network security --”

“Anybody else interested in flying the ship?” Tau interrupted, scanning the crowd.

Jek tapped the floor with the tip of her boot.

“What about you?”

A Navigator Jek knew as Nibbler a few people away from her shook his head profusely in silent disagreement.

Tau sighed and pointed to the guy beside him. “How about you, then?”

“Oh, you don’t want me flying alone, sir,” he replied. “I crash stuff… a lot.”

Nibbler nodded. “Yeah. Anytime Kip lands, he’s crashing stuff.”

“Fine,” the Tallest grumbled with a frivolous wave of his hand. “If no one is going to volunteer, I’m going to choose someone.”

Dirk half raised a hesitant hand. “But I volunteered, sir --”

“You!” Tau announced, brushing off Dirk’s words like a fly. “You. You’re going to pilot our ship. No discussion.”

Jek perked up, noticing Tau’s decisive finger pointing right at her. A wave of panic suddenly drowned her squeedlyspooch, churning up whatever she had for breakfast. 

“Me?” 

“Yes, you.” 

She objected with a small, nervous chuckle. Jek’s hands trembled lightly. The floor started to sway beneath her.

“Wait.” He floated a few steps toward her. “Aren’t you the one who piloted _Throat Ripper_?”

Jek took a step back. 

Throat Ripper.

_The suffocating heat of white-hot flames, the smell of burning flesh, smoke, and metal… the deafening clang of ships colliding, the gut-wrenching boom of deadly thunder as they fell, falling, falling, further into space --_

“Yes, sir,” she said, her voice brittle. “I piloted _Throat Ripper._ ”

“Then we know you’ll get us out of any trouble we might get in,” he said, the length of his robes billowing as he turned his back to her. “We’ll depart in ten minutes time.”

Her Tallest had made his decision. She folded her hands across her lap and bowed.

She looked over to see Dirk’s head hanging low, his green eyes dark and distant. 

“What about Navigator Dirk?” she hated to ask.

“He’ll co-pilot, I guess.” The Tallest shrugged, settling himself in the captain’s chair. “Since he wants to do it so bad.”

The Navigators dispersed back into wherever they had been sitting in the commons, splitting back up in their respective cliques to wait out the rest of the ride. 

Jek stood in silence, staring that the tops of her boots.

_“Navigators, brace for impact!” the commanding officer screamed, her hoarse voice hardly enough to be heard over the alarms blaring overhead. “They’ve hit our rightmost thruster! We’re going down!”_

_The five Navigators rooted themselves in their stations, their panicked eyes wide and desperate as their hands and fingers went frantically to work._

_Seventeen year-old Jek stood helpless in the command center of_ Throat Ripper. _Her arms and face were covered in soot and ashes. Her violet uniform had holes burnt into it, and she was sweating, her breath rapid and ceaseless, her heart beating in her ears --_

_The ship shuddered violently and took a deep dive sideways. Jek fell back onto her heels, and slid forward, her gloved hands grasping desperately to regain her footing. Beside her, other Engineers tried to do the same, grappling each other and holding hands in an attempt to lessen any blow they would have to endure through the turbulence._

_That’s when the fire started._

_The right side of the ship exploded into flames. The sonic boom of nuclear fission ricocheted off the metal walls, deafening even the loudest sirens and the loudest screams._

_Her insides flopped as they dive bombed, hurtling in the direction just past Vort’s rocky surface. She cried out in fear -- she thought, at least. She couldn’t hear herself. She couldn’t hear anybody anymore--_

“Jek? Are you okay?”

Jek drew a deep breath from her parted lips. “Yes,” she managed. “I’m fine, Dirk.”

Dirk smiled gently, reaching out to hold Jek’s hand.

 

 

Jek took a seat in the pilot’s chair, surprised by how comfortable and supportive it was compared to her station on the Massive. Dirk sat down beside her and began familiarizing himself with the controls.

Jek gritted her teeth against her bottom lip. She flipped on the four top switches above her station to boot the ship up. It roared to life beneath their feet, the rapidly heating, ionized coils of the accelerators expanding under the sudden release of pressure.

She thrust her foot against the accelerator pedal, tapping it to make sure it was operable. She adjusted the thruster levers and gave them a short test, sending fuel jutting out on either side of the parked ship.

“All power systems activated and fully functional,” Jek spoke into her headset. She turned around in her seat to see Tallest Tau, sitting in the captain’s chair, his back straight, his expression focused. “We are ready to fly.”

Tallest Tau nodded and signaled the drones that stood in waiting in the docking bay. The drones waved a series of penlights to guide Jek safely out of the bay.

Beside her, Dirk was grinning with quiet delight. He took to his tasks and loaded up his control screen. It showed an empty map that seemed to be awaiting Jek’s signal.

“Computer,” she called out, “navigate us to sector seven-two-eight, quadrant four. Portia.”

“Navigate us, she says,” the computer’s voice grumbled in her ears. “You didn’t say please.”

“Please.” Luckily the computer couldn’t see her roll her eyes.

“Initiating….”

The map on Dirk’s screen bloomed with a series of dots and shapes in several colors, describing the details of their route. Jek looked over as he tapped a button, blowing the map up into a holographic projection.

She was surprised by how far the planet was from the nearest star. It was the most outermost planet of a solar system that no longer existed, having long been destroyed in the name of Irken conquest. 

Dirk routed all of the fuel to the ship’s power core. The ship that was once bumpy and noisy beneath them became smooth and soundless. 

Jek held her breath. This was it.

She adjusted the ship’s velocity, and it began began to slowly move forward. She drifted the ship out of the docking bay, and tapped the accelerator pedal. The ship quickly gained speed. They were ready.

Jek shot Dirk a look, and found him looking back.

Dirk gave her a reassuring nod. Her finger hovered above the hyperdrive button for a few seconds, its blue-green hue seeping into her ruby stare.

And with that, they were off at the speed of light, into one of the darkest, loneliest corners of space.


	3. Conversational Piece

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jek stumbles into a conversation.

Jek stared listlessly out unto the vastness of space. From the viewport, everything looked so _small_. That was to be expected, though, drifting next to a planet left all alone, ninety-million lightyears away from its star and not much else. A few drifting asteroids and a broken meteor belt was Portia’s only company.

By the looks of it, the planet itself was a rock as desolate and dark as its neighborhood. From a quick diagnostic she had run at Tallest Tau’s request, Portia had no native life, no water. The atmosphere was sulfur-based. One side of the planet was plagued with endless lightning storms that lit up the skies, as well as the volcanic eruptions that darkened them. 

The other side of the planet was habitable, if you considered inconsistent, sudden acid rain to be something of a nuisance rather than a dealbreaker. The clouds here were thinner, allowing some sunlight to graze the planet’s unimpressive, soil-starved surface. 

On that unimpressive, soil-starved surface was where Portia’s Irken occupants made their temporary homes. She could only guess where. The power outage had left the entire planet dark, and communications with them thus far had been either unreceived or impossible.

And hanging like a moon in the planet’s orbit, was the portal.

It was massive and brilliant, a perfect black, glittering ring lingering soundlessly in space. She had no idea just how big it was, but it had to at least have a radius of a few hundred kilometers. Up close, the portal was downright haunting. To think that it could transport a fleet to an area of unexplored space -- or, as it was rumored -- to another dimension entirely was _terrifying._

Jek sat back in the pilot’s seat and closed her eyes, absorbing the silence.

It was kind of nice to be in her own company. Everyone else had retreated to the commons downstairs for food and refreshments -- even Dirk. But that was some time ago, now. They would probably be coming back soon, and she could miss the opportunity to have a meal. 

Hot food, cold fizzy drinks. Pizza, burritos, donuts….

She got up from her seat and headed down the short staircase to the lower deck. Here was the kitchen and commons area, which consisted of a dining hall and a few rooms for entertainment. Less notably, the downstairs was also home to the engine room, maintenance closet, and a few other less glamorous necessities. 

Jek poked her head into the commons area, seeing most of her colleagues crowded around a large screen where a fighting game was being played, and a betting ring had formed. She turned her head to their excited shouts and groans of defeat. 

It looked fun. Really fun.

“Jek!” a voice called out over the noise.

Jek’s antennae flicked with sudden interest. She gazed out over the crowd to see who was speaking to her. “Kip?”

“Come play with us!” he hollered with a wave of his hand. He was sitting right beside Nibbler, as always. 

She shook her head with a wave of her hand and a quiet chuckle. “No thanks,” she called out. “I’m starving!”

“Party pooper!”

She stuck her tongue out at him. He laughed.

Too bad. She almost stayed, but her squeedlyspooch grumbled in protest. If she didn’t catch this meal, she wouldn’t last until the next rotation. 

She continued walking until she finally came to the dining hall. It was extravagantly crimson and chrome. The table stretched from the entrance to the farthest wall. Irken insignias hung on flags from the ceiling, red against black. 

The hall was mostly empty, but alive with conversation. Tallest Tau sat at the head of the table with his chin resting against his clasped hands, brow furrowed. A group of three soldiers sat at the table with him. Two palace guards stood by his side, unmoving and vigilant.

Jek stopped abruptly. The screech of her boots gave her away. Every pair of eyes looked to her direction, and she shrunk back, her shoulders falling nervously.

She was walking in on something she wasn’t supposed to be any part of.

“Excuse the intrusion, sirs,” she said with a deep bow and turned to walk back the way she came.

“No,” Tau called out, “pilot, you stay.”

Jek’s lips parted in surprise. 

“Please,” he assured her. “Take a seat.”

Hunger had faded away into worry, quieting the rumbling in her squeedlyspooch. She sat down beside a little man, surprisingly short for an Irken soldier. He was an Elite like the other three, donning the emblem of their rank on his forehead. Jek wondered if they were permanent.

Before they continued, a service drone poked her head into the room. She offered Jek a menu of food, and she chose quickly, not wanting to interrupt the conversation further.

The drone disappeared into the next room with a swift nod of her head. Jek blurted a quiet thank you.

Tallest Tau turned to Jek once the drone had gone and said, “The shift change Invader Blue described should have already occurred, assuming the workers planned to stay on schedule despite the sudden disappearance of forty of their likeness.” 

“But it hasn’t,” Nexus explained, her spherical eyes thinning as she spoke. 

A tall, broad soldier spoke next. His voice was throaty, boastful, and loud. “We believe that they have halted all progress with the Portal until our investigation is completed.”

Jek nodded in understanding.

“The power outage has left us with no way of communication on the ground, and landing an entire ship in the dark is risky,” another soldier continued. Her fists curled against the frosted texture of the table. “We are going to either wait until sunrise, or you’re going to perform an emergency landing.”

Jek hung her head, biting her lip in thought. She considered what she knew about the planet and its atmosphere, and how dangerous the task might be.

While she did this, her food arrived: a space burrito and a red Bubble Sucky, two of her favorite things. She hardly would have noticed if not for the savory, earthy fragrance wafting up from her plate.

“How long is it until sunrise?” Jek asked.

“Approximately twenty hours,” Tau answered.

Twenty hours could be too long to wait.

“I ran some planetary diagnostics on the bridge,” Jek said, suddenly self-conscious of the way her words rolled off her tongue. She tried loosening up her pronunciation a little bit, like everyone else. “The planet itself is notably jagged, but a quick scan to map the surface would put us in better confidence.”

“So you’re saying you _can_ do it?” The biggest soldier leaned forward in his seat. 

Jek paused. “Yes. I can.”

Tallest Tau straightened in his chair, craning his neck high with newfound assurance. “Then we will land in an hour’s time. Pilot, do whatever you must do to prepare.”

Jek looked down at her untouched meal.

“You can take it with you.” Tau smiled. “I give you permission.”

“Thank you, sir!” She set her drink atop her food tray and stood quickly. “I must get to work immediately.”

She held her breath as she left the dining hall, hoping to catch any lingering voices behind her. A couple of faint murmurs followed her up the stairs. They were soon drowned out by the hollering from the game room as she passed by. From the sound of it, someone just lost a very big bet.

Jek couldn’t help but feel like she had stumbled into more private of a conversation than the table suggested, the Tallest included. Palace guards and three Irken Elites don’t make a group for much light conversation.

The grim looks on their faces were unmistakable. They were worried. All of them.

Frankly, though, so was she.


	4. The Real Beginning

Jek finished her meal on the command deck. Her gloved nails tapped against the glass-covered keyboard in front of her as she made a few final adjustments. With her minor success and a full stomach, she felt remarkably revitalized. She had finished right on time with a few minutes to spare. A little rest couldn’t hurt, right?

She lifted her arms over her head and arched her back into a long, indulgent stretch. Just as she was about to sit back into her seat, something in her neck tightened like a rubber band, and snapped. 

“Ouch,” she hissed under her breath, rubbing her long fingers over her neck. She craned her neck to the other side, then back to the same one, doing her best to work out the knot.

That’s when a pair of familiar hands settled on her shoulders. Fingers tucked themselves under the collar of her uniform. Before she could react, the hands already started pressing out the knots of her strained, tired muscles.

“Heard we’re landing soon.” Dirk’s calm, warm voice was almost forgivable. He continued to massage his fingertips into all the worst, aggravated parts of her upper back. “Heard you’ll be piloting us down there in the dark," he said, his breath brushing against her neck, _“captain.”_

“The scan of the planet shows a flat section of the surface that extends past the Irken settlement,” she said simply, begrudgingly aware of how easily she surrendered to Dirk’s touch. His hands were like magic: practiced and thorough, robotic in precision. “It’s the perfect place to land.”

Dirk rolled his thumbs against the base of her neck. It made her feel kind of dizzy. She closed her eyes. Then it felt good. Really good. To have someone touching her was comforting. 

Dirk may not always be there every time she needed him. But when he was there, she savored it. She gave herself to the feeling of companionship. It was hard to be Irken -- to embrace the societal concept of pure independence, to not need anybody but yourself.

That’s why even though she was still angry about last night, she had to forgive Dirk.

Suddenly, his hands lifted off of her. Jek’s eyes flashed open in surprise, but once she realized what was happening, a twinge of fear ignited her blood like a flash of lightning.

She hadn’t heard the Tallest come in. Tallest Tau, accompanied by his entourage of guards and Irken Elites, entered and sat down in the commander’s seat in the middle of the command center. Several other Navigators followed him, taking their respective places to monitor the ship’s descent. 

_If he had seen them…._

“Everything is as planned, my Tallest,” Jek announced, standing from her chair. “There is a flat section of land right beside the settlement. It’s perfect.”

“Good,” he said shortly, fumbling with some various ship controls. His guards were all busying themselves with their datapads. The Irken Elites were occupied by assessing their weapons.

Dirk took his place beside Jek. They prepared the ship together, and within minutes were ready for takeoff.

Jek allowed herself another long, good look at the foreboding yellow planet.

"Alright," she said, adjusting her headset frequency to speak to anyone on the ship wearing one. "The atmosphere is mostly sulfur and nitrogen, so breaking through the atmosphere is going to be the worst of it."

“We’ll be going in hot,” Dirk chimed in. “Heat shield is at the ready.”

Jek hit the accelerator and the ship rocketed toward Portia. Her eyes couldn’t process just how fast they were coming in, but the computer clocked in at fifteen kilometers per second. The way the blackness moved around the ship gave the illusion that they were spinning. 

She looked down at her monitor.

“Hitting the atmosphere now,” she announced. Despite the shockwave forming at the head of the ship, it hardly moved. They were coming in perfectly smooth.

The ship cut through thick, yellowed clouds as they descended. Within seconds the clouds thinned into nothing but wisps of fog. 

Jek gradually pulled back on the accelerator. Dirk manned the thrusters, and they started to slow down. 

The surface was just in sight. Jek set the accelerator to auto and took the controls into her hands. She pulled up steadily, and the ship came to a crawl just in time. 

They landed smoothly. The ship landed just a kilometer away from the Irken settlement according to Jek’s simulation, but it was so dark and misty that it couldn’t be seen with the naked eye.

“Excellent landing,” Tau said. His words were like a song to Jek’s heart. It swelled, and if it had swollen any more, she would have died in her seat. “We will leave for the settlement immediately.”

The Tallest turned and gestured toward the soldiers. “These three will provide you with the necessary gear needed for this mission.”

“Gear?” Jek flipped around in her seat to face Dirk. “What do we need gear for?” The air on Portia was incredibly smelly but perfectly breathable.

Dirk frowned. His gaze was fixed on the Elites, so focused, it was as if he was studying them. “There’s something they’re not telling us.”

Her eyes bulged wide. “You really think so?”

“Think about it,” he suggested. “The power suddenly goes out planetwide, so they grab a bunch of _Navigators to investigate_ , and bring along just _three_ Irken Elite soldiers?” He frowned. “There should be more of them and less of us. Even Elites can fly a ship.”

He had a point. 

Jek lined up with the others and received her gear: a plasma bullet-proof vest and a standard Irken rifle. 

“Nope.” The buff soldier pressed a hand against Jek’s chest, pushing her back. “No, you two are staying here.”

“We are?” Jek asked, silently letting go of the nervous breath she had been holding. 

The woman shrugged. “Yeah, something about you two overseeing the operations and being backups,” she said boredly. Her lavender eyes were dull and disinterested.

Dirk and Jek shot each other a glance. 

“Don’t worry,” she said, “we probably won’t be needing you. Rescue operations are always pretty routine.”

The other two soldiers pushed past them from behind.

“Alright, listen up, skinnies,” the biggest soldier called out, holding up his rifle. It was just like the ones that were passed out to the other Navigators. He flipped it over to its side. “This is the safety. You see something that ain’t supposed to be there, you flick it backward,” he said, demonstrating. “Then you aim and pull the trigger. That’s all there is to it.”

“Oh.” One of the Navigators pointed the barrel of the rifle up at himself. He peered into it with his one and only eye.

“Our goal is to search the settlement for any survivors and bring them back here. Alpha, Beta, and Omega will head the mission. You will be split into pairs,” Tallest Tau explained. He stood tall and grand, the sleeves of his robes billowing out as he widened his arms in a comforting gesture. “Obey their orders, and we will be successful.”

“Grab a friend, and let’s get moving!” the smallest soldier called out, waving his arm high over his head. “We don’t have all day!”

Jek watched in silence as the group of Irken Navigators followed the Elite. The other two, Alpha and Beta, were the last to disappear into the darkness, shutting the ship door behind them.


	5. Throwing the Switch

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dirk makes Jek laugh until his joke isn't funny anymore.

The sound of Tau’s nail-tapping was almost maddening.

The Irken entourage had been slowly combing every inch of the settlement for hours now. They had come up completely empty. And everywhere they went, things looked normal. There were no visible signs of struggle or sudden disaster. Beds were made, plates and bowls cleaned and stacked neatly away, televisions and game consoles turned off. It was eerie how a place could look so lived-in yet so empty at the same time.

It was as if all the life had been abruptly snubbed out, and given ample warning beforehand.

All eyes were glued to the screen overlay that covered the ship’s main viewport. Alpha was broadcasting their search live from a bodycam strapped across his chest. Everything was in night vision; the planet’s nights were pitch black, even to the color and light-enhancing ocular implants given to all military soldiers. 

There was sound, but it was of poor quality. It seems the only thing it could pick up was the sound of Alpha breathing and the occasional bits of quiet instruction to the Navigators from the other two Elites. 

“How do a hundred and four people disappear?” Jek wondered quietly. She glanced over at Dirk, whose emerald eyes were more wide and attentive than ever. 

He offered her a breathy sigh. “I don’t think they disappeared,” he mumbled, watching Beta and Omega speaking wordlessly with one another. “I think they deserted.”

“But Invader Blue is missing too.”

“She’s one of them,” Dirk reasoned. He folded his arms over his chest. “She staged the whole thing.”

Jek scoffed quietly. In other circumstances, it might have been a soft chuckle. “You really think that?”

“Why not?” he suggested. “An Irken Invader gets the OK from her biggest boss to halt all operations for several hours while help arrives, giving her and the other defectors a several hour headstart without raising any suspicion.”

“Then why call us for help? Why send us all the way out here?”

“She didn’t want us to come,” he said. “Tallest Tau did.”

Jek searched his expression, going over every crease in his face, every glint of light in his eyes, every twinge of his lips.

She laughed, relaxing back in her seat. She threw one leg over the other and shook her head. “You are so full of shit.”

Dirk laughed too, turning back to the screen. Another empty room.

“Sorry sir, the place is vacant.” Alpha’s deep voice reverberated throughout the entire command center. “What’s our next move?”

Tallest Tau took in a deep breath and wetted his lips. It was as if he didn’t know what to say. But he always did. 

“Return to the ship,” he decided. “We will regroup and consider our options.”

“Understood.”

The camera stayed on as the party began the journey back to base. Jek wondered how long it would take to get here. She was admittedly growing frustrated and bored. As much as she was used to sitting most of the day, being on a strange world so far from home made her restless.

Dirk was about the same. Next to her, his leg was bouncing anxiously. He sucked on his cheek as he kept his gaze fixed above them, watching the scenery change.

Behind her, Tallest Tau talked softly with his palace guards. Even their hushed words were intense, sometimes raising their voices a little higher than intended and calming back down again. 

This was all so confusing. How did nobody know what was going on? It was an entire planet devoted to the construction of a portal intended to bend time and space, the first of its kind. Why was it seemingly so neglected?

They didn’t even know the atmospheric details of this place before they got here. 

“Invader Blue?”

Alpha’s voice caught everyone’s attention. Antennae perked up all around, his voice met with looks of shock and wonder.

On the screen was indeed Invader Blue. She stood sideways, clutching her left arm. Her clothes were disheveled and torn in places. But most strangely of all was this thick, spidery web of a wet substance all over her. It clung to her antennae and her eyelashes, making it difficult for her to even blink.

“She fooled us,” she said directly to Alpha. Beta stepped into frame, mouth open as if she were about to say something. “She fooled us all.” She winced and gripped her arm tighter. 

“What are you talking about?” Alpha asked, putting a foot forward. 

And then, Dirk cut the feed.

Everything fell into eerie silence. It was slow, like in a dream. 

She looked at Dirk. He looked back.

Dirk leaped out of his seat at her, hands open and his fingers curled like claws. He grabbed her by the shoulders and yanked her from the captain’s chair. Jek felt her PAK hit the base of the control panel as she was thrown and fell right onto her bum. Her head hit the side of the bottommost part of the panel as she went down. Darkness flashed before Jek’s eyes. When the light returned just a moment later, her vision was so blurry she could hardly see Dirk pass over her.

There was the sound of Irken Palace Guards’ spears clamoring behind her. She heard one cut the air like a knife with a sharp _whoosh._

Jek tried her best to sit up. She placed her palm to her forehead. 

_Blood._

But her skin felt cool to the touch. Her head was throbbing. The world around her was spinning. Try as she might to get back up again, she got as far as sitting up on her knees before she fell back down again.

Everything was sensory overload. The light inside the command center was far too bright. The ringing in her ears didn’t do much to lessen the intensity of the voices around her. There were shouts of rage, screams of pain, gasps of terror.

Something hard hit the floor. There was a yell and Tau’s voice.

Jek peeked a single ruby eye open just far enough to watch a pool of milky pink blood slowly stretching toward her, extending out to like the limbs of the living, the last attempt of the dead reaching for a hand to hold.

She inched over to it, gloved hand outstretched in its direction. On her elbows, she was able to pull herself along the floor closer to it, until, finally, she was able to touch it. 

There was a body connected to the growing web of blood. It was Nexus. Her facemask was askew. Her violet eyes still looked angry, as if the fire of her soul hadn’t left her yet. At her sides, her fists were still clenched although her weapon was long gone, all the way across the room.

Jek raised her head. The other three palace guards had met the same fate. They had been mangled -- almost mauled. Arms were twisted backward at the elbow, legs sprawled in unusual, unnatural ways from their bodies. One of them was missing his jaw. Another, missing her head. 

Dirk’s hands were around Tallest Tau’s long, thin throat. He had gotten the Tallest on his knees, Tau grappling violently with Dirk’s arms trying to get him to let go. 

Knowing that trying to stand would just result in another fall, Jek got to her hands and knees and started to crawl toward them. 

Tallest Tau let out a low, gurgling grumble. He lurched sideways in an attempt to knock Dirk off of him, but Dirk was too strong. He held onto the Tallest’s throat, gripping even harder now. Tau was losing his ability to focus the longer Dirk strangled him. The lack of oxygen to his brain was quickly becoming lethal. It would kill him if Jek didn’t do something.

But what?

She looked around frantically for something to take hold of. 

A palace guard’s pistol.

She took the weapon in her hands and recalled Alpha’s words. Flick the safety back. Aim, and fire. 

_‘That’s all there is to it.’_

Shakily, Jek got to her feet. She wrapped her hands awkwardly around the pistol and laced her finger through the trigger guard. 

She took an aim at Dirk, directly at the back of his head. She moved to pull the trigger, hesitating.

Dirk. The closest friend she had. Her lover, at times. And she was going to shoot him.

She was going to end his life.

Jek didn’t hesitate this time. She stared down her sights and fired a shot.

Dirk heard the plasma pistol fire. In a split second his neck twisted to the side; Jek thought she was seeing things. It was so unnatural, almost mechanical. The bullet flew past him and hit Tallest Tau in the center of his head.

Tau looked through Dirk, and directly at her as he died before his body hit the floor with a wet, sticky _thud._

Dirk and Jek stood together in a blood bath. The plasma pistol in her hand felt heavy and hot. She let it slip through her fingers with a loud, deathly clatter.

Dirk’s eyes burned into her. She could feel him staring at her. She didn’t dare look back.

She just kept staring at the floor, at the blood around her feet. She hardly noticed when Dirk’s hands slipped around her waist and pulled her close, chest to chest. He smelled like copper and smoke. He traced a finger around her cheekbone and slipped the mask off of her face, exposing her neck and mouth.

“You tried to kill me.”

Dirk tapped his nail against one of Jek’s protruding teeth. She snapped her head away, but Dirk only tugged her closer. His tight grip took hold of her chin and forced her to face him. 

His smile stretched the blood across his cheeks. 

“Cypher Six!”

_Cypher?_

Dirk’s hand squeezed, and it _hurt._

Beta was standing at the ship’s doorway, one arm wrapped around a limp, unconscious Alpha at her side. Her other hand was pressing a piece of fabric against the left side of her face. The fabric was dappled with her blood and a mess of holes that looked like they had been burned into it. 

“Let her go,” Beta ordered.

Dirk let the tips of his nails dig into Jek’s skin. “I’m afraid I can’t do that,” he said with that shit-eating grin of his. “You see, this woman murdered Tallest Tau. It is my honor-bound responsibility to apprehend her and return her to Tallest Zeta to be transported to Judgementia for trial.”

Beta stepped further into the ship, dragging her partner along with her. The more they stepped into the light, the more Jek noticed Alpha’s face.

There was something attached to it. Something chitinous and pale, with eight bony legs, and a long, slimy tail. It covered so much, you couldn’t see his features anymore.

“You fucking liar,” she hissed through gritted teeth. 

Jek stared into his eyes. But when he looked back, she saw nothing there.

“Now,” Dirk said, letting his hand relax and slip away as he slithered past her, “hand him over to me.”

“Never.” Beta spat at Dirk’s feet.

“Is that really what you want?” he chided, tipping his head in Alpha’s direction. “Anyone who sees him knows he’s not going to survive.”

The soldier took a long, sad look at the man in her arms.

“Well, he won’t survive here, anyway,” Dirk said. “The Massive has excellent medical care. Hand him over to me, and I can ensure his safety.”

“No!” Beta pulled Alpha defensively closer to her. “You’re just going to let him die.”

Dirk shook his head. “I won’t,” he promised. “He has something I want. If I can have it, he can have his life.”

Beta’s jaw set tighter.

“Have it your way.” Dirk bent down and picked up the plasma pistol at Jek’s feet, and put it to her head. Jek jerked forward in a vain attempt to get away, but he was too quick and she was too weak. He wrapped his arm around her chest to keep her still.

Jek trembled as if overcome by a violent cold wind. She wanted to say something, but words couldn’t escape her. Her lips were sealed from fear. She could only freeze as the gun clicked loudly against her temple.

“You wouldn’t kill an innocent, would you?” Dirk reasoned. “If you don’t hand him over, she will die, he will die, and that’s what neither of us wants, right?”

“You’re really trying to use her as leverage?” Beta argued. “You were going to throw her in the meat grinder regardless. This isn’t exactly an even exchange for us. You’re losing nothing.”

“Of course I am,” he said. “Without her, I’m the one taking the blame for all of this,” he gestured his head around the room, “and you know how much I don’t want to do that.”

“You’ll just blame someone else.”

“And Alpha will die.” He shrugged and pressed the pistol harder against Jek’s head. “Your choice.”


End file.
